First-of-its-kind program to fill gap in Indigenous childbirth care

Directors hope an Indigenous birth support worker program set to launch in Saskatoon this winter will become the new standard for Indigenous maternal care in Saskatchewan.

“We still see a lot of women who are displaced to Saskatoon to deliver, often leaving behind their support networks and family,” said Carrie Dornstauder, executive director of maternal and children’s provincial programs for the Saskatchewan Heath Authority (SHA).

“This program will support them by providing that friendly face and someone acknowledging them.”

The Indigenous birth support worker program will help Indigenous women from outside communities navigate the medical system in Saskatoon and connect them with cultural and traditional resources and aides, Dornstauder said.

The program comes two years after a review of involuntary sterilization of Indigenous women at Royal University Hospital that revealed patients at the hospital were pressured to undergo sterilization procedures in 2010. Reports and inquiries into the extensive, brutal history of the practice have emerged nationwide, sparked in part by reporting from The StarPhoenix’s Betty Ann Adam.

Dornstauder said the program will help address eight of 10 calls to action prepared after that review by Indigenous elders and community leaders in the province.

The program is a collaboration between the Gabriel Dumont Institute and the SHA.

Workers began a six-week training program at the institute earlier this month and will conclude in mid-October. The program aims to begin providing support at the soon-to-open Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital this winter, although an exact date has yet to be determined.

Leanne Smith, director of maternal services and children’s intensive care, said workers will personalize support by connecting clients with Elders and people who speak the same language, and by making sure traditional or cultural requests are accommodated.

While not every Indigenous woman may wish for specific traditions to be a part of her child-bearing process, Smith said the option is crucial to make them feel at ease in an unfamiliar hospital setting.

Access to culturally-appropriate birth support services like midwives is greatly restricted in Canada as a result of poor access to health services and the ongoing effects of colonization, although recent calls to action have improved services in some communities. As of 2018, there were no funded Indigenous midwives in Saskatchewan.

A 2013 Health Canada report found access to culturally-appropriate supports improved health incomes for Indigenous children, which tend to be worse than those in non-Indigenous communities, according to a 2017 Statistics Canada report.

Bringing Birth Back, an ongoing research project at the University of Saskatchewan funded by the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation, is consulting Indigenous Elders and mothers across the province to restore and unify traditional knowledge and practices around childbirth.

“Not all Indigenous women have traditional cultural beliefs, but at times it’s nice to have another advocate who might speak your language, looks a bit more like you, and can be a friend,” Smith said.

“Everyone has their hopes and dreams for what their birth is going to be like. In hospital we try to accommodate women’s birth requests, but practitioners might not be knowledgeable about certain traditions.”

Saskatchewan Health Authority CEO Scott Livingstone said during the hospital’s pre-opening celebration on Thursday that it’s an important part of closing the health care gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the province. He stressed the importance of the staff being full-time members of the hospital team as opposed to temporary or part-time workers.

“Part of it ensuring the facility is welcoming and culturally appropriate, not just for First Nations people but other newcomers to the province,” he said.

Parts of the hospital’s design, like the symbols used in its murals and signage, were informed by consultation with Indigenous communities across the province.

Yellow Quill First Nation also donated 10 star blankets to mark the hospital’s upcoming opening on Sept. 29, which will be given to the first 10 babies delivered in the new space.

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